After Image: A Doctor Who Fan Novel
by Pan202
Summary: The Doctor and Rose meet again, but not is all what it appears and this Doctor isn't either of her originals. And when a man threatens to open the rift and unleash the Daleks upon the world, what can they do to stop him?


First ever Doctor Who fanfiction that actually has the potentail to go anywhere. So be kind to me. I set this in the same basic area as the Audio drama for the Eight Doctor, and post-Doomsday for Rose. It get interesting eventually, promise.

Disclaimer: Doctor who belongs to the BBC. Not me. I just borrowed the characters for a while in order to have some fun. So please don't sue

Chapter one: A man called Fitz

_We built this city…_

_We built this city on rock and roll._

The Doctor leaned back in his chair, feet propped up on another chair, as he listened to the electronic beats of Jefferson Starship. His thoughts on events that had just past, and on his home, and his lips curled into a smile. It was a little funny now that he thought about it, he had never gotten homesick before. A truly human emotion and he chuckled. Standing up he walked over to the radio and turned it off with a single flick of the wrist.

He stretched his arms around and yawned loudly. He was thankful for the peace and quiet for once, but it was starting to get a little boring. He strolled over to the other side of the TARDIS and pulled a book from the shelf. The Alice Compendium. No, he didn't feel like reading it so soon after what had happened. He put it back on the shelf and made his way back over to the consol, and typed in a random destination.

"Earth," he smiled for a moment before he moved to the other side. "Hm. Two-thousand five sounds about right. Or maybe… two-thousand seven."

He wondered distantly why he had moved the date programmer so far away from the destination programmer. He would make sure to fix that in the future. The twin blades of the TARDIS core began to move, connecting and disconnecting, and the familiar sound filled the air. For a moment he stood watching it, smiling, before he turned around and made his way back over to the chair.

_Boom!!_

A vibration hit the TARDIS, knocking The Doctor down to the ground, and sending the ship spinning out of control. He looked at the monitor and it read 'Rift disturbance'. Oh great, just the short of excitement he needed. He turned over onto his front and slowly made his way over to the controls. It was slow going but eventually he made it over. He pushed the button for an emergency materialization, and held on tight.

The TARDIS appeared in the side walk right in front of some side street in he guessed London. The landed was slightly rough, but not nearly as rough as he expected. When everything went still he stood up and looked around. Only a few things were disturbed despite the turbulence, his bowl of jelly babies laid shattered on the ground. With a sigh he made his way out the door and into the light.

--------

Rose Tyler sat with her head on the desk, barely awake as the officers babbled on something about Weevils. She had grown use to life at Torchwood, so much so that it had gotten boring. It was often the same alien over and over again. The same fight. For a moment she shook her head before she lifted herself up.

James was talking about a surge in Weevil population in the underground in his normal monotone voice, dark eyes on his case folder. Out of all the pups as she so fondly called her officers, he was the one she trusted the most. And besides, he was the first who believed her when she told them about Daleks. But right now she wasn't too happy with him. Weevils. It was always Weevils. That or Cybermen. Why couldn't they get a good alien every once in a while? Her eyes moved to the viewing screen and she sighed again. She stood up slowly and walked over to the screen.

"How fast has the population increased in the past month," she asked.

"Ten percent."

"Increase control barriers and hunting protocols. We can not let them get out of hand."

"Yes sir."

They left out the door, leaving Rose once again to her thoughts. During times like this she found her thoughts always on one subject. The Doctor. She moaned softly and rubbed her eyes. Mickey was right, she had to forget him. She strolled over to the mantle and picked up the photo sitting there. It was the only picture she had with her when she came here. She had her arm around The Doctor, and he a wild short of smile on his face. With a sad smile, she opened a drawer on her desk and put the picture away for good.

Her mind actually felt heavier now that she did that, and she hit her head lightly. It was time to move on, as much as she hated the thought. Maybe it was about time too. With a sight, she grabbed her jacket and left the Torchwood compound.

Once outside in the sunlight, her thoughts lifted and she let out a content sigh. This was just what she needed. She needed to relax, give her mind sometime from the repetitive nature of Torchwood. She looked up at the sky and twirled on the balls of her feet. That was she saw a flash of blue and she froze.

A blue phone box sat on the side walk, the light on top reflecting the sunlight that touched it. People walked pass the box as if it was nothing special, which to them it wasn't. But to her… She took a few steps towards it and touched it. It wasn't the same… it couldn't be. She walked around to the other side and tried to open the door. Locked. It was the same.

With that thought ringing in her mind, she ran all the way home.

----

The Doctor was strolling carefully down the road and for the first time in a long time felt short of out of place. He paused for a moment and looked over himself in the shop window. He looked a little too dressy for such a causal time. With a shrug, he made his way into a clothing store and looked around.

"Welcome sir," came a woman's voice and he turned. A woman in a blue uniform and her black hair in a bun came walking over to him. A smile formed on his lips. "Can we help you with anything?"

"Oh no, I'm just browsing. Thanks for the offer though."

The woman smiled and returned to her desk, and the Doctor turned to one side of the shop and walked over. He reached out a hand and pulled a t-shirt from a rack. It had the face of Yoda from Star Wars against a black background on the front and on the back it said, 'May the force be with you'. He grinned and put it under his arm. Definitely getting that one, and it was even in his size. He grabbed a few more shirts and a few pairs of blue jeans, before he grabbed a pair of shoes. Then he brought them and put them on and over all, he didn't think he looked that bad. He slipped the rest of his clothes in a bag and headed back off to the TARDIS.

When he was almost there he was surprised to see a woman touching the TARDIS almost as if she was unsure it was real. A woman with long blonde hair and a slender build. He watched her from a distance and felt a twinge of familiarity. Hadn't he seen her somewhere before? Before he had a chance to question her she turned away and ran away in the opposite direction. Something slipped from her pocket as she ran and when he reached the TARDIS he picked it up.

"A wallet," he muttered and flipped it open. The diver pass showed the face of the young woman who had investigated his ship was well formed, quite beautiful. She had deep brown eyes and a full mouth. But her smile was sad, as if she carried a large weight. "Rose Tyler, from London. Currently staying in the Tyler Manor. Its not that far away either. Well, better return this."

He slipped his hands into his pockets and slowly made his way down the road after her.

----

Rose shut the door behind her and leaned against it, catching her breath. She couldn't believe it. He was here, he really was. But didn't he say it was impossible. And why did she run? With a sigh she removed it from her thoughts and instead made her way to the living room.

Her mother was waiting. "Home early dear? Oh, you look flushed. What's wrong?"

She smiled slightly and with a wave of her hand sat down on the couch. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Sure I would! I've seen stranger things, believe me."

Rose was about to answer when the door bell rang, and she shut her mouth almost right away. Her mum went to get and she shut her eyes. When she tired to get away from stress, it just found her again. She searched in her pockets but when she didn't find anything she moaned. Great. Just what she needed.

"Come on in," she heard her mother voice and she sounded a little more happy then she normally did when someone came to visit. Must be a guy. A good looking guy. "Rose, someone is here to see you."

A man walked into the room just a few steps in front of her mother and she found herself fascinated at one glance. He looked a few years older then her, but had a short of old fashion feel to him, which countered the youthful appearance. He had soft brown-gingerish hair, that went down past his ears with long bangs in front, and warm blue eyes. He was dressed modernly enough, black Yoda shirt, blue jeans and black high tops. He smiled.

"I believe you dropped this."

He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out her wallet, before he handed it to her. She couldn't help but smile in relief, although she opened it to make sure everything was intact. It was. "Thank you."

He smiled slightly again, but turned away. "I thought I should return it. But I think that I might have overstayed my welcome. Goodbye."

"Wait a moment," Rose said, standing up. She did get him to pause and turn around to look at her. "Can I at least have your name?"

"I'm Fitz Kreiner."

"Thanks again."

He nodded and left, hands in his pockets. Rose could only shake her head and sit back down. Wait, hadn't she heard that name before? She tapped a hand against her head as she thought, but eventually deiced she would look up the name tomorrow while at Torchwood. Instead she watched her mother as she stared after Fitz.

"Mum," she said warningly. Jackie turned around and blushed.

"Sorry. I couldn't help it. Wasn't he such a handsome man, reminded me of someone I use to know."

She grinned and covered her mouth. Her mom had the worse concept of self control.

----

The next day she woke up the her cell phone ringing off the hook and she groaned. Oh great, Torchwood in the middle of the morning. She sat up and picked up the phone. "What is it James?"

"There has been an outbreak of some new alien life form. Reading suggest something humanoid and wraith like in nature."

"I'm coming. Hold on tight."

She hung up the found and sprung up, before she gave a sigh. What was she going to do with this whole Torchwood thing. She changed into a simple outfit and made her way out of the house. And alien infestation. Something new. She found the power to run down the road in her half awake state. The cool morning air helped slightly.

It didn't take long for her to arrive at the office and when she did she found James already waiting for her. He handed her a folder and when she opened it she found information on the creature. Clearly it wasn't completely organic, but at least not robotic.

"I'm going after it," she said, "I already have all the equipment I need. You keep the gang on standby."

"Yes sir."


End file.
